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CDA, City, Development, Green Energy Holdings, Law, Local Government

Questions for the CDA about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings

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Yesterday, I posted a series of general questions about a proposed deal with Green Energy Holdings for a waste digester. See, Preliminary & General Questions about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings. (For all posts about this deal, I’ve a designated category.)

Today, here are questions specific to the Whitewater Community Development Authority’s role in that proposal. Embedded immediately below is the video recording of the 6.27.12 CDA session during which the CDA considered GEH’s proposal.

Community Development Authority Meeting 06/27/2012 from Whitewater Community TV on Vimeo.

These questions appear in no particular order.

1. Don’t both Whitewater and the State of Wisconsin have prohibitions against conflicts of interest among officials?

Whitewater’s Municipal Code, section 7.04.070, entitled ‘Conflict of interest,’ begins with a provision for the protection of all residents that

(a) Financial and Personal Interest Prohibited. No official or employee, whether paid or unpaid, shall engage in any business or transaction or shall act in regard to financial or other personal interest, direct or indirect, which is incompatible with the proper discharge of official duties in the public interest contrary to the provisions of this chapter or which would tend to impair independence of judgment or action in the performance of official duties….

Similarly, Wisconsin Statutes 19.59, “Codes of ethics for local government officials, employees and candidates,” promises all residents that

(1)(a) No local public official may use his or her public position or office to obtain financial gain or anything of substantial value for the private benefit of himself or herself or his or her immediate family, or for an organization with which he or she is associated….

2. Shouldn’t we have a government, including all who serve on boards and commissions, meeting – at a minimum – the standards that our city’s ordinances, and our state’s laws, require?

3. How were these remarks, just less than 12 minutes into the session, from the CDA board chairman Jeff Knight, and a CDA member Jim Allen, consistent with even that minimum standard?

CDA chairman (speaking to CDA member): “Well, they’ve got their eyes on you (CDA member), by the way, being from Chartwells [crosstalk], because one of the things they want to do is take all of your waste…”
CDA member (to whom chairman was speaking): “That’s my question [laughter]. Where do you get all your food waste?”

GEH representative: “Pardon?”

CDA member: “Where do you get all your food waste?”

4. Why does the CDA chairman assume approval of a deal even before going into closed session?

Before going into closed session to discuss GEH’s development agreement, this is what the CDA chairman had to say about an assured outcome:

CDA chairman: “….this [development agreement] has already been approved by the city council, but we’re gonna to talk in closed session about some edits and changes that need to be approved as – when – we come out of closed session. Ok? So, we’ll be approving then a preliminary development agreement, that’ll have to go back to the city council for it to be amended. All right?”

What does this say about being on the CDA?

5. In light even of a potential conflict (and that’s a generous interpretation), why did the CDA member and chair vote on this proposal? Why would the chairman of a committee think his remarks, or the member’s questions, were anything other than wrong, unbecoming, and beneath the standard that an American community should meet?

6. In light of a potential conflict (again, a generous interpretation), why did the CDA member and chair vote on the GEH proposal? Shouldn’t they have abstained?

7. In light of a potential conflict (again, a generous interpretation), why did the CDA member and chair even participate in this part of the CDA discussion? Shouldn’t they have remained silent, or left the room?

8. In light of a potential conflict (again, a generous interpretation), will the CDA member and chair continue to participate in CDA discussions of GEH?

9. What did the CDA know about this project at the time it deliberated preliminary approval? Note that a representative of GEH mentioned during the meeting that he had not brought a photo of an existing plant, but that he could bring one later.

Did the CDA vote without knowing what other GEH locations look like, let alone what the Whitewater plant would look like? Had they not seen plans, schematics, etc.?

10. If GEH is providing private funding, have audited financial statements for the company been provided to the city and CDA for the purposes of ascertaining whether GEH can meet its commitments?

11. Why was there nothing about GEH in the CDA’s online agenda packet? Don’t people who apply for a home loan have to offer more for review than Whitewater’s residents have seen about a deal using city resources?

Why shouldn’t a developer be held to a standard that even ordinary consumers have to meet? Shouldn’t a public deal be a public matter?

Tomorrow: Questions for the Press about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.10.12

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Good morning.

Whitewater’s Tuesday looks to be mostly sunny, with a high of eighty-five, and light winds from the northeast at about 5 mph.

On this day in 1940, the Battle of Britain began: “the 114-day Battle of Britain began as Nazi forces began attacking southern England by air. By late October, Britain managed to repel the Luftwaffe, which suffered heavy losses.”

The Wisconsin Historical Society writes that on this day in 1832, Gen. Atkinson order construction of a fort during the Black Hawk War:

1832 – Fort Koshkonong Construction Begins

On this date General Henry Atkinson and his troops built Fort Koshkonong after being forced backwards from the bog area of the “trembling lands” in their pursuit of Black Hawk. The Fort, later known as Fort Atkinson, was described by Atkinson as “a stockade work flanked by four block houses for the security of our supplies and the accommodation of the sick.” It was also on this date that Atkinson discharged a large number of Volunteers from his army in order to decrease stress on a dwindling food supply and to make his force less cumbersome. One of the dismissed volunteers was future president, Abraham Lincoln, whose horse was stolen in Cold Spring, Wisconsin, and was forced to return to New Salem, Illinois by foot and canoe. [Sources: History Just Ahead: A Guide to Wisconsin’s Historical Markers edited by Sarah Davis McBride andAlong the Black Hawk Trail by Willilam F. Stark]

Civil War buffs will have an advantage with Google’s daily puzzle: “If you traveled, by bike, from where the Civil War began to where Robert E. Lee surrendered, what’s the fewest amount of miles it could take?”

 

 

Business, CDA, City, Development, Green Energy Holdings

Preliminary & General Questions about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings

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There’s a development proposal now pending between the City of Whitewater and Green Energy Holdings for a waste digester. The community’s heard only a bit about the proposal, from one newspaper story, and an item in then-city manager Brunner’s Weekly Report (publicized verbatim thereafter).

The proposal’s been described in big terms, but there’s been little detail about it. In fact, considering the way the idea has been touted (‘monumental,’ in the former city manager’s words), there’s an odd lack of specifics.

(I’ve posted previously about proposal. See, The CDA and GEH and The CDA Session from 6.27.12.)

Appearing below are a few preliminary & general questions about the project. They’re not exclusive of other questions, but rather the most general and preliminary questions that a reasonable person might ask.

Answers to simple questions like these should have been provided before Common Council’s last session, and before the last CDA session. Information in answer to these questions should be the standard practice in any American community

There’s no particular order of importance, but rather a listing by topic.

1. What’s the actual name and business form of Green Energy Holdings? The draft of development proposal to Common Council described GEH as Green Energy Holdings, Inc., but the Community Development Authority’s agenda described it as Green Energy Holdings, LLC. These are not the same entity – but describe two different Wisconsin businesses. Which is it?

2. Green Energy Holdings, Inc. was registered as a Wisconsin corporation on 4.3.12. Why so recently? How – under what form — was it doing business previously? An officer of the company, speaking at the most recent Community Development Authority meeting of 6.27.12 mentioned that it had been recently reorganized. Why?

3. If GEH registered as a Wisconsin corporation in April, with whom was the city negotiating previously? Former city manager Brunner, in his Weekly Report (6.22.12) wrote about the proposal, and said the city had been working with GEH for “the last nine months.”

4. How did the city first learn of this proposal?

5. Which employees from city staff worked with GEH – under whatever business form — during the nine months’ time that Brunner mentioned? How long did they work on it?

6. If city employees have worked for a long time, why is there so little information available? If they have worked only a little during those months, why have the advanced the idea with so little preparation?

7. Why has there been no document of any kind – other than the proposed development agreement – shared with the public about this proposal?

8. How many digester sites does GEH own and operate now? Where are they located, how large are they, how many do they employ, what digester technology do they use, and when were they built?

9. In the sites that GEH operates now, what value have the GEH plants contributed to the community?

10. Where is GEH’s headquarters now? How many work there? How long has it been their headquarters?

11. Why does GEH’s corporate filing with Wisconsin use the same post office box address as the one listed for Northern Concrete Construction? What’s the relationship between GEH and Northern Concrete Construction?

12. How has GEH calculated its reported claims of economic or property value added to a community? Does GEH use an independent firm or firms to calculate this professed, added value?

13. How did GEH arrive at a target figure for incremental property value claimed for a Whitewater digester? Where is the written analysis representing that target figure? Who prepared that analysis?

14. Before submitting a draft proposal to the Common Council, did Whitewater’s city manager or others on his staff undertake or request an independent analysis of claimed incremental value for a digester? If so, why has that analysis not been make public?

15. Other than Whitewater, in what other communities does GEH have present plans to build?

16. One of those other, proposed communities is Maribel, Wisconsin. What is the status of the project in that community? Has anyone in that community raised environmental concerns?

17. Before submitting a draft proposal to the Common Council, did Whitewater’s city manager or others on his staff undertake or request an independent analysis of the environmental impact of the project? At the CDA meeting of 6.27.12, a representative of GEH mentioned devices to restrict and contain odors. What sort of odors are there? The representative also mentioned truck traffic. How much truck traffic, and how often will it run to the plant?

What impact will the processing of food waste in the facility have on the surrounding land, air, and water?

18. Before submitting a draft proposal to the Common Council, did Whitewater’s city manager or others on his staff receive visit other communities, and interview residents in those cities, about existing GEH projects? If he and his staff did, to whom did they speak, and when? If he and his staff did not, why did they not?

19. How much public money will be required for this project, and how much of the investment will be privately funded, from GEH?

Tomorrow: Questions for Whitewater’s Community Development Authority about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.9.12

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Good morning.

Whitewater’s Monday will be mostly sunny, with a high of eighty-six.

The Planning Commission meets tonight at 6 PM, and the Library Board at 6:30 PM.

On this day in 1877, the beginning of Wimbledon —

Google’s daily puzzle tests knowledge of a religious tradition: “By the tradition of one religion, a certain fruit has as many seeds as there are commandments in its holy text. How many seeds does that religion say it should have?”

Twitter

Recent Tweets, 7.1 to 7.7

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Jul 7

Obama’s not Carter http://bloom.bg/M5vdWHH #closeelection

Jul 7

BBC News – Is the paperless office possible? http://bbc.in/Ne75q8 

Jul 6

Wisconsin in 100-degree weather: Axe-wielding man evicts naked squatter from camp site http://bit.ly/NbYdBP 

 Jul 5

The Declaration of Independence Annotated Randy Barnett @ Volokh Conspiracy http://bit.ly/MC45pX 

Jul 4

Nine Things You Never Knew About the Fourth of July – ABC Newschttp://abcn.ws/MTQeqL 

Jul 3

For the conspiracy-minded: Seven Theories About Who the Supreme Court Leaker Was http://bit.ly/N6bckP 

 Jul 3

Two excellent water-saving tips http://bit.ly/N6agN7 

Jul 3

Who Is John…Allison? A Randian, Libertarian Business Icon Takes Over the Cato Institute – Forbes http://onforb.es/Ms3wif

Jul 2

The Coolest Food Trucks Ever Slideshow | The Daily Mealhttp://bit.ly/LMG9dx 

Jul 2

Good – Twitter releases transparency tool to reveal government requests | Ars Technica http://bit.ly/Ng1Cxw 

Jul 2

Three World War II veterans reflect on their Badger Honor Flight experience http://bit.ly/KWEyGK 

Jul 2

Live streaming at 1:30 PM ET: “The Supreme Court’s Obamacare Ruling: What Does It All Mean?” — http://cato.org/live 

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.6.12

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Good morning.

Whitewater’s week ends with a high temperature of one-hundred one, with a twenty percent chance of thunderstorms.

The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls that on this day in 1934, Wisconsin saw violence at a Racine factory:

1934 – Seven injured in riot at Horlick plant
On this day three policemen and five office employees of the Horlick Malted Milk Corp. were injured when a crowd of strike sympathizers stormed a motorcade of employees entering the plant’s main gate. Emerging from a crowd of 500 striking employees, the rioters overpowered police escorts, shattered windshields and windows, and pelted officers with rocks. Police blamed Communist influence for the incident, and former Communist congressional candidate John Sekat was arrested in the incident. Employees of the plant were demanding wage increases and recognition of the Racine County Workers Committee as their collective bargaining agent. [Source:Capital Times 7/6/1934, p. 1]

Google’s daily puzzle asks about art: “What is the name of the French artist whose pointed approach to art has the zinc chromate in his most famous painting shifting slowly to brown?”

Agriculture, Business, Food, Free Markets, Laws/Regulations

Boosting Big Farms at the Expense of Small Ones

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It’s about as hard as ever to be a small famer in America. Some difficulties are simply a consequence of competition, by which both farmers (compelled to be more innovative) and consumers (getting better goods at lower prices) benefit.

Yet, when government, itself, becomes a burden and hardship for small famers, we have tolerated what we need not have tolerated, enduring a problem not of weather or competition, but of our own doing.

There are countless small farms in America, including some that, owing to the need to find a niche despite their size, have hit upon raising animals that will be both hardy and marketable. One such farm is Baker’s Green Acres of Michigan, where hog farmer Mark Baker is raising a stout variety of swine suitable to Michigan’s climate.

He’s also battling a Michigan Department of Natural Resources regulation that finds so-called feral swine an invasive species, even if the hogs are actually being raised on small farms for profit. That is, the regulation identifies some hogs as wild even when they’re a small farm’s livestock.

Rather than simply target hogs that are in the wild, the rules also hit small family farms, competing against the large farms of major pork-producers and their lobbying association.

Who benefits? Big Agriculture, at the expense of sought-after, small-farm alternatives that foodies and some restaurants prefer. Over-broad regulations, justified flimsily, and disproportionately benefitting some businesses over others, should be suspect.

For more about this story, with criticism of Michigan’s regulations from both left and right, please see Feral Fight: Family Farm Battles Mich. Over Ban That Will Kill Livestock and Livelihood and Exotic Swine Ban In Michigan Brings Backlash.

(Note that Baker’s Green Acres still has its livestock during litigation over the Michigan regulation.)

Immediately below is a video, one of a series, from Mark Baker of Baker’s Green Acres. Although it’s a simple effort, from a farmer who’s unaccomplished in public relations, it’s heartfelt and sincere, making it more valuable than a dozen polished, carefully-scripted videos. This is a story worth following, with a hat tip to the Wisconsin Happy Farm for the story.

Posted originally at Daily Adams.

Daily Bread

Daily Bread for 7.5.12

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Good morning.

Whitewater’s Thursday will be about 104 degrees, sunny, with a west wind at five to ten miles per hour.

On this day in 1946, French fashion designer Louis Reard introduced the bikini, after the U.S. atomic test conducted off the Bikini Atoll earlier that week.

In Wisconsin history on this day, from the Wisconsin Historical Society, developments in the Black Hawk War –

1832 – Atkinson enters the Trembling Lands
On this date, General Atkinson and his troops entered the area known by the Native Americans as “trembling lands” in their pursuit of Black Hawk. The area was some 10 square miles and contained a large bog. Although the land appeared safe, it would undulate or tremble for yards when pressure was applied. Many of the militiamen were on horses, which plunged to their bellies in the swamp. The “trembling lands” forced Atkinson to retrace his steps back toward the Rock River, in the process losing days in his pursuit of Black Hawk. [Source: Along the Black Hawk Trail by William G. Stark]

Google’s daily puzzle offers something of animals and people: “The name of the bird that lays the largest egg in relation to its body size is also the nickname of people from what country?”